Cabriolet soft top

ABSTRACT

A soft top is provided for a cabriolet. The soft top includes, but is not limited to, a monofilament warp thread and a monofilament weft thread. The soft top also includes, but is not limited to, a filling material substantially filling the interstices between the monofilament warp thread and the monofilament weft thread to form a substantially translucent fabric.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/062,276, filed Apr. 3, 2008, which claims priority to European PatentApplication No. 07007139.4, filed Apr. 5, 2007, which is incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention generally relates to a soft top more particularlya soft top for a cabriolet.

BACKGROUND

A soft top conventionally comprises a rainproof fabric layer which issupported by articulated struts of a roof support structure, so as to bemovable between a deployed position in which it covers the passengercompartment of a vehicle and a retracted position in which it is foldeddown near the rear end of the passenger compartment.

In order for the driver to be able to look backwards, the soft top musthave a rear window, which must be made of a material which is both clearand flexible. As pointed out in EP 0 284 931, such a window tends tobecome brittle with age, and may crack when the soft top is folded orunfolded, in particular since in the unfolded state it is subject tosubstantial tensile stress. Repairing the window is laborious andexpensive. In order to reduce the risk of breakage, the rear window of acabriolet soft top is usually smaller than that of a sedan model of thesame vehicle type, so that the passenger compartment of the cabriolettends to be dark and sombre when the soft top is deployed.

The present invention aims at providing a soft top for a cabriolet whichmakes the passenger compartment bright when deployed, allowing thepassengers to experience an “open air feeling” even when driving withthe soft top closed, and which is nevertheless resistant to aging. Inaddition, other desirable features and characteristics of the presentinvention will become apparent from the subsequent summary, detaileddescription and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings and this background.

SUMMARY

The foregoing goal and other goals are achieved according to theinvention by a soft top for a cabriolet comprising at least atranslucent rainproof fabric layer. Although the term “translucent” isused as a generic term here, including the notions “transparent” or“clear”, such a fabric layer is will usually not be transparent orclear, but will scatter the light that passes through it. Neverthelessit will allow the passenger compartment to brighten considerably whencompared to a conventional opaque tarpaulin. The fabric is by naturemore resistant to aging and brittleness than a homogeneous flexiblewindow, for although the fibres of the fabric might be made of the samematerial as a flexible window and might be expected to exhibit the sameaging deterioration, fissures are confined to individual fibres andcannot grow into macroscopic cracks larger than the fabric mesh.

A suitable translucent fabric may be obtained using translucent thread.Such a thread may be a monofilament of conventional synthetic fibrematerial, such as polyester.

Alternatively, if the fabric layer has spaced-apart threads, spacesbetween the threads can be filled by a translucent filling material. Ofcourse, the threads of such a fabric layer might be transparentthemselves, too.

The rainproof fabric layer can be part of a multilayer structure, otherlayers serving different purposes such as reflecting infrared radiation,absorbing light, etc.

In particular, if the multilayer structure comprises a light-absorbinglayer, a window may be formed in the light-absorbing layer forilluminating the passenger compartment.

For absorbing noise (e.g., of rain falling on the soft top) a gel layermay be provided in the multilayer structure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will hereinafter be described in conjunction withthe following drawing figures, wherein like numerals denote likeelements, and

FIG. 1 is a side view of a cabriolet with an unfolded soft top;

FIG. 2 is a cross section of a multilayer structure of a soft topaccording to a first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a cross section of a multilayer structure of a soft topaccording to a second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a top view of a first modification of the soft top;

FIG. 5 is a top view of a second modification; and

FIG. 6 is a top view of a third modification of the soft top.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description is merely exemplary in nature and isnot intended to limit the invention or the application and uses of theinvention. Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by any theorypresented in the preceding background or the following detaileddescription.

FIG. 1 is a side view of a cabriolet according to the present invention,with a soft top 1 in an unfolded position. A multilayer tarpaulin 2 isconventionally supported by an articulated support structure so as to bemovable between the unfolded position shown and a collapsed position inwhich the tarpaulin is folded near the rear end of the passengercompartment. A rear window 3 made of a transparent material is mountedin a cut-out of a rear slope of the tarpaulin 2. In a substantiallyhorizontal roof portion of tarpaulin 2, a large translucent patch 4 isformed.

FIG. 2 is a cross section of the roof portion of tarpaulin 2 accordingto a first embodiment of the invention. The tarpaulin comprises a fabriclayer 5 formed of thick monofilaments as warp and weft threads (6, 7),respectively, embedded in a filling material 8. The monofilaments areformed of a rugged, translucent synthetic fibre material (e.g.,polyester). The filling material 8 is applied, for example, by sprayingor spreading a solution of a translucent resin on the fabric andevaporating the solvent, or by applying a film of a flexible translucentthermoplastic material to a side of the fabric and pressing the filminto interstices of the fabric while heating it. The filling materialmakes the fabric rainproof by filling the interstices between thethreads (6, 7), additionally it may improve translucency of the fabriclayer 5 if its refractive index is close to that of the threads (6, 7).Eventually, multifilament threads might also be used for forming thefabric; in that case the filaments of the threads can be embedded in afilling material having a refractive index similar to that of thefilaments in order to make the individual threads translucent.

All around the translucent patch 4, an opaque layer 9 is laminated ontop of the fabric layer 5, so that supporting struts of the articulatedsupport structure extending underneath are not visible from outside thevehicle.

At least within translucent patch 4, and possibly also on top of opaquelayer 9, an IR-reflective layer or coating 10 is provided in order toprevent excessive heating of the passenger compartment in case of thesun shining on the closed soft top. As an alternative or additionalmeans to prevent overheating, an electric fan, not shown, might bepowered by photovoltaic elements formed on the tarpaulin 2 itself or atanother appropriate location of the vehicle body.

At an inner side of fabric layer 5, a translucent gel layer 11 isprovided. This gel layer 11 is the thickest layer of the tarpaulin 2,making up for the major portion of its weight. A suitable transparentgel on a polyurethane basis is available from Bayer AG under the tradename Technogel®. Due to the high weight conferred to the tarpaulin 2 bythis gel layer 11, outside noise, especially the noise of rain fallingon the tarpaulin 2, is efficiently dampened.

FIG. 3 is a cross section of a tarpaulin 2 according to a secondembodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, the fabric layer 5comprises a wide-meshed, net-like fabric embedded in a layer oftranslucent filling material 8. Here, the fabric layer 5 may, forexample, be obtained by laminating the fabric between two translucentfilms which merge to form the filling material layer. The threads (6, 7)of the fabric may, but need not, be translucent in this embodiment.

An opaque layer 9, an IR-reflective layer or coating 10 and a gel layer11 are similar to those described above with respect to the firstembodiment.

FIG. 4 is a top view of the tarpaulin 2 according to the first or secondembodiment, as described above. The roof portion is mainly formed of thetransparent patch 4, extending above front and rear seats of thepassenger compartment and surrounded by the opaque layer 9. The opaquelayer 9 is also provided in C-column regions 12 and in the rear slopeportion of the tarpaulin, surrounding rear window 3.

FIG. 5 is a top view of a modified version of tarpaulin 2. Here, twosmaller transparent patches (4′, 4″) are formed in the roof portion oftarpaulin 2, one 4′ above the front seats and the other 4″ above therear seats. A central strip 13 of the opaque layer conceals a crossbarof the roof support structure. If desired, only one of the two patches(4′, 4″) may be provided. A large variety of modified versions may beprovided at low cost, such as by manufacturing a single basic version ofthe tarpaulin, without the opaque layer 9, and forming on this basictarpaulin various opaque patterns (e.g., by screen printing).

In particular, printing techniques such as screen printing may be usedfor adjusting the degree of translucency of the tarpaulin. As shown inFIG. 6, between a border zone 14 of the tarpaulin 2, in which the opaquelayer 9 is continuous, and the transparent patch 4, there may be atransition zone 15 in which the opaque layer is printed intermittently,here in the form of dots 16, the size of which gradually decreases fromthe border zone 14 towards the transparent patch 4.

In a similar way, according to a further modification, opaque dots maybe distributed all over the transparent patch 4 itself, so that theoccupants may feel like sitting in light shade. Since the printingpattern of the opaque layer 9 can easily be varied, versions of the softtop can be provided in which the size of the dots and, hence, the degreeof shading is adapted to the climate of the country where the vehicle isexpected to be driven.

While at least one exemplary embodiment has been presented in theforegoing detailed description, it should be appreciated that a vastnumber of variations exist. It should also be appreciated that theexemplary embodiment or exemplary embodiments are only examples, and arenot intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of theinvention in any way. Rather, the foregoing detailed description willprovide those skilled in the art with a convenient road map forimplementing an exemplary embodiment of the invention, it beingunderstood that various changes may be made in the function andarrangement of elements described in an exemplary embodiment withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appendedclaims and their legal equivalents.

1. A soft top for a cabriolet comprising: a monofilament warp thread; amonofilament weft thread; and a translucent filling materialsubstantially filling the interstices between the monofilament warpthread and the monofilament weft thread to form a substantiallytranslucent fabric; wherein the monofilament warp thread and themonofilament weft thread are interwoven and embedded in the translucentfilling material; and wherein each of the monofilament warp thread andthe monofilament weft thread comprise a translucent fibre material. 2.The soft top of claim 1, wherein the substantially translucent fabric ispart of a multilayer structure including an infrared (IR) reflectivelayer laminated on top of the substantially translucent fabric.
 3. Thesoft top of claim 2, wherein the multilayer structure further comprisesa light-absorbing layer.
 4. The soft top of claim 1, wherein thetranslucent filling material comprises a refractive index equal to arefractive index of the translucent warp thread and the translucent weftthread.
 5. The soft top of claim 2, wherein the multilayer structurefurther comprises a gel layer, configured to absorb sound.
 6. The softtop of claim 1, wherein the soft top is configured to transition betweenan unfolded position and a collapsed position.
 7. The soft top of claim1, further comprising: a substantially horizontal roof portion; a rearslope portion having a rear window disposed therein; an opaque layerlaminated on top of the substantially translucent fabric around atranslucent patch and surrounding the rear window; and a translucent gellayer on an inner side of the substantially translucent fabric; whereinthe substantially translucent fabric provides the translucent patch inthe substantially horizontal roof portion; and wherein the translucentpatch extends above front and rear seats of a passenger compartment ofthe cabriolet.
 8. A cabriolet soft top comprising: a substantiallytranslucent fabric layer including: a translucent monofilament warpthread, interwoven with a translucent monofilament weft thread; atranslucent filling material substantially filling the intersticesbetween the translucent warp thread and the translucent weft thread; aninfrared-reflective layer overlying the substantially translucent fabriclayer; and an opaque layer laminated on top of the substantiallytranslucent fabric layer to define a translucent patch comprised of thesubstantially translucent fabric layer.
 9. The cabriolet soft top ofclaim 8, further comprising a gel layer situated at an inner side of thesubstantially translucent fabric layer, wherein the gel layer isconfigured to dampen outside noise.
 10. The cabriolet soft top of claim8, wherein the translucent warp thread and the translucent weft threadcomprise a translucent synthetic fibre material.
 11. The cabriolet softtop of claim 10, wherein translucent synthetic fibre material comprisespolyester.
 12. The cabriolet soft top of claim 8, wherein thetranslucent filling material comprises a refractive index equal to arefractive index of the translucent warp thread and the translucent weftthread.
 13. The cabriolet soft top of claim 12, wherein the translucentwarp thread and the translucent weft thread comprise multifilamentthreads.
 14. The cabriolet soft top of claim 8, wherein the cabrioletsoft top is configured to transition between an unfolded position and acollapsed position.
 15. A cabriolet soft top comprising: a substantiallytranslucent fabric layer comprising: a translucent warp thread; atranslucent weft thread; a translucent filling material substantiallyfilling the interstices between the translucent warp thread and thetranslucent weft thread; and an IR-reflective layer overlying thesubstantially translucent fabric layer; wherein the substantiallytranslucent fabric layer is configured to transition between an unfoldedposition and a collapsed position; and wherein the substantiallytranslucent fabric layer further comprises: a substantially horizontalroof portion; a rear slope portion having a rear window disposedtherein; an opaque layer laminated on the substantially translucentfabric layer around the translucent patch and surrounding the rearwindow; and a translucent gel layer on an inner side of thesubstantially translucent fabric layer; wherein the substantiallytranslucent fabric layer provides a translucent patch in thesubstantially horizontal roof portion; and wherein the translucent patchextends above front and rear seats of a passenger compartment of thecabriolet.
 16. The cabriolet soft top of claim 15, wherein translucentfilling material is configured to render the substantially translucentfabric layer rainproof.
 17. The cabriolet soft top of claim 15, whereinthe translucent filling material comprises a refractive index equal to arefractive index of the translucent warp thread and the translucent weftthread.
 18. The cabriolet soft top of claim 15, wherein the translucentwarp thread and the translucent weft thread comprise a translucentsynthetic fibre material.
 19. The cabriolet soft top of claim 18,wherein translucent synthetic fibre material comprises polyester. 20.The cabriolet soft top of claim 15, wherein the translucent gel layer isconfigured to dampen outside noise.